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Earth science

Keeping score on the core

Nature volume 427, pages 207–208 (2004)Cite this article

Getting to the bottom of events at the boundary between Earth's core and mantle is fiendishly difficult. The latest analysis invokes evidence from an isotope of tungsten to conclude that the two do not interact.

The report by Scherstén and colleagues (page 234 of this issue1) bears on one of the liveliest debates in Earth science — the extent to which Earth's core exchanges matter with the mantle. This topic has been addressed by many groups, and from a number of observational, experimental and theoretical directions2. In particular, however, many analyses have centred on the geochemistry of highly metallic elements in mantle rocks, with recent efforts focusing on volcanic hotspots such as Hawaii. Hotspots form above plumes of material, rising up through the mantle, that may (or may not) originate from the core–mantle boundary at the base of the mantle. Over the past few years, persuasive arguments in favour of core–mantle exchange have been made on the basis of osmium isotopes in hotspot lavas, especially the small anomalies in 186Os that may have been derived from the decay of an isotope of platinum (190Pt) in the Earth's outer core3,4.

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Figure 1: Alternative interpretations of core–mantle interaction as surmised from the tungsten isotope 182W.

References

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  1. Department of Terrestrial Magnetism, Carnegie Institution of Washington, 5241 Broad Branch Road NW, Washington DC, 20015, USA

    Erik Hauri

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  1. Erik Hauri
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Hauri, E. Keeping score on the core. Nature 427, 207–208 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/427207a

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/427207a

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